


She's Your Daughter

by JoMouse



Series: Sterek Week 2020 [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Childhood Friends, Don't copy to another site, Family Feels, Kid Fic, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious, Past Derek Hale/Paige, Past Stiles Stilinski/Paige, sterekscene6, sterekweek2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 07:14:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27199675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse
Summary: Stiles and Derek haven't seen each other in twelve years, not since they had a falling out over the same girl.Now, she is dead and has left something for the both of them.Alternatively: The Sterek version of "My Two Dads" that nobody asked for.
Relationships: Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Sterek Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985668
Comments: 24
Kudos: 196





	She's Your Daughter

**Author's Note:**

> Greetings and salutations!
> 
> Oh, man. Another October, another Sterek Week, another Scene-Stealers theme. This theme gets me every single year and I end up working on about five before last-minute settling on one, and this year was no different. I started with the "On the Line" story I started a couple of years ago, took a stab at a Hallmark movie, and then "Pump up the Volume" before deciding on the classic television show, "My Two Dads". 
> 
> This is VERY LOOSELY inspired by the show. There are a few borrowed incidents but other than that, I went off and did whatever these two idiots wanted me to do, but I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Big, huge, ma-hu-ssive thanks to my beta Marie for the literal last minute beta and ongoing cheerleading.
> 
> xx-Joey
> 
> Don't know 'em. Don't own 'em. Don't show 'em.

Stiles stood in the doorway of the lawyer’s office and studied the man sitting in the chair across the room from where he stood. It had been years since the last time he’d laid eyes on Derek Hale and it was way too soon to be doing it again. At one point, Derek was the most important person in his life and then they met Paige Krasikeva. In one summer, a lifetime of friendship was destroyed as they fought over the same woman. It was surprising to everyone that the polar-opposite best friends had managed to fall in love with the same woman, but they had and the competition to win her heart had been more than they could handle.

It was a terrible loss on all sides because at the end of the summer, Paige had headed off to college and Stiles had never heard from her again. From what he’d heard through his father, Derek had lost touch as well, the both of them going on to live solo lives with their families worrying over them. Not that Stiles ever asked about Derek because that would be admitting he missed his friend and he wasn’t going to be the one to do that, if Derek was sorry for going after the woman Stiles loved, he’d have to be the one to apologize.

Now, twelve years later, that same woman that destroyed them was the only one that could bring them together. He hesitated before stepping into the room and turning his attention to the man sitting behind the desk, watching them both with an annoyingly knowing smile on his face. The nameplate on his desk read, “Alan Deaton, Esquire”. 

“Hey, Mr. Deaton,” Stiles greeted. Holding out a hand, he smiled as the lawyer took it and shook it. “Stiles Stilinski.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Stilinski,” he greeted, gesturing to the chair next to Derek’s. Frowning, Stiles sat in it and tried to surreptitiously side it away but it screeched against the hardwood floors. He hoped the burn on his face wasn’t as obvious to everyone in the room; the smirk on the lawyer’s face told him that it was. “I am happy to see that you could both make it on such short notice, I do apologize but it is a time-sensitive issue.”

He shuffled some papers in front of him. While he did this, Stiles glanced over at Derek who was intently focused on the back of the photo frame on Deaton’s desk. Stiles had to sit on his hand to keep from poking him in the cheek like he would do when they were kids and Derek was pretending he didn’t exist. He bit back a smile at the memory and quickly frowned when he felt his eyes grow damp. 

When the silence dragged on, Derek finally broke the silence by asking the question that had been running through Stiles’ mind since he’d gotten the telephone summons the day before. “What does this have to do with Paige Krasikeva?”

“To begin with, I am a lawyer for Ms. Krasikeva and I am afraid I have to start this meeting off with some sad news. Over the past couple of years, Ms. Krasikeva was diagnosed with Cancer, and just this past week, lost her battle.”

Derek’s gasp verbalized the feeling that shot through Stiles. Although he hadn’t spoken to Paige in twelve years, not a day went by that he didn’t think about her and wonder where she had ended up. He wondered if she ever settled down, had children, traveled the world as she’d always dreamed about. He glanced over at Derek just as he wiped a tear from his cheek and he wondered if Derek had spent the last twelve years having the same thoughts. He also wondered if Derek had thought about him at all. 

“Is that all that you have to tell us?” Stiles choked out, cursing the crack in his voice as Derek’s eyes darted to him for the very first time.

“The actual purpose of my calling you here is to discuss the terms of her will. Both of you have been chosen to receive something very special, but it is something that requires the both of you to work together.” Derek and Stiles exchanged a look before turning back to the man, his confusion and anger grew with every enigmatic smile that the lawyer gave them. 

“Can you get to the fucking point?” Stiles snapped.

“Stiles,” Derek admonished and the sound of him saying his name for the first time in years was enough to distract him from his anger for a split second. “I apologize for Mr. Stilinski-”

“Oh no you don’t,  _ Mr Hale, _ ” Stiles sneered. “You don’t do anything for me.”

“Look, Stiles, whatever happened between us in the past-”

“Whatever happened? Whatever happened? You mean when you tried to steal away the woman I loved?”

The change in Derek’s face was almost hilarious as he sputtered in a way Stiles had never seen him do. Even in the throes of puberty, he’d been the most poised teenager he’d ever known. “Me? You went after her even though you knew-”

“Gentlemen,” Deaton interrupted. “If you could put off rehashing the past and attempted murder, I would appreciate being able to continue. I do have another meeting in an hour.” Stiles settled back in his seat after one more glare at Derek who glowered at him before they both turned their attention back to the lawyer. “It is my understanding that the nature of both of your relationships with Ms. Krasikeva is the reason you have been chosen for a very important role in the life of someone important to her.”

“She left us a pet of some sort?” Derek asked while Stiles’ attention was drawn to the door behind Deaton’s desk when it opened slightly. 

Squinting, he caught sight of a set of eyes staring at him, widening slightly when his lips quirked into a smile. “I don’t think it’s a pet,” he said, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he had even given himself time to think them over.

Deaton looked over his shoulder and shook his head, the smile on his face soft before disappearing when he turned his attention back to the two men. “You are correct, Mr. Stinlinski. During conversations over the last few months of her life, Ms. Krasikeva shared stories with me of a summer in Beacon Hills, California with two very different young men.”

Stiles remembered that summer, remembered wanting to spend the rest of his life with Paige. Having bought a ring and planning to give it to her only to find out she’d been spending the summer running around with Derek as well. She’d left claiming she wasn’t ready to settle down, she had her whole life ahead of her to be serious. It was a mindset that Stiles normally lived by but she’d brought out a little bit of responsibility and maturity in him. He wonders now, if she would’ve had the same attitude if she’d known she’d only have twelve more years to live.

“After the summer was over and Ms. Krasikeva returned to school, she discovered that she was pregnant.”

“Pregnant?” Derek said, his voice awed. “I’m a father?”

Stiles pressed his lips together; it was just as likely that he was the father but something in him kept quiet. Derek had lost his entire family in a fire and from what he’d heard had never gotten around to starting a new one. The small part of him that still cared didn’t want to be the one to destroy the bubble of hope in the other man.

“She told me that there was a possibility that either one of you could possibly be the father, but that she’d never wanted to contact you to do a DNA test and now, she just wants you both to take care of her child.”

“Is it time?” a voice whispered from the doorway and Deaton smiled a real smile and nodded. The door opened all the way and stepping out of the dimmer light of the other room into the halo created by the overhead light in the office, a feat of dramatics that Stiles was impressed with, stepped the spitting image of Paige Krasikeva as a young teenager, right down to a smile full of mirth and mischief. “Congratulations, it’s a girl!”

Later that day, Stiles sat in a chair at his favorite diner staring at the teen girl, Emberli, across from him gobbling down curly fries while talking non-stop about her mom. “She was always the fun mom. We baked cookies together and delivered them to homeless shelters. I’d have these humongous sleepovers and everyone was invited.”

Sitting to her right, still looking a bit shellshocked in his black suit, white shirt buttoned to the top and tie only slightly askew, was Derek. He kept nodding but Stiles suspected he wasn’t following a word the girl was saying. Then again, when they were younger, Stiles would go on the same kind of binges of conversation and Derek would get the same look and yet still knew every word that Stiles had uttered.

Sure enough, when Emberli stopped to take a breath, Derek asked her what kind of cookies were her favorite and after grinning at him, she started on another tangent. When she finished her fries, she excused herself to the bathroom and they both watched her walk away from the table before turning back to each other. They looked away quickly when their eyes met, both preoccupied with things on the opposite sides of the diner.

“She talks like you,” Derek said after a minute.

“She looks just like Paige,” Stiles came back with; he’d been trying to find something, anything in the girl’s appearance that reminded him of Derek or himself but everything he picked up was also a trait shared with Paige. The mole on her cheek, the slight bunny-like overbite, everything could just as easily have come from their mom as from one of them.

“You really never knew?”

“Never saw or heard from her again,” Stiles said, frowning down at the plate in front of him. “You?”

“Never. I tried finding her on Facebook, but didn’t have any luck,” Derek told him, folding his napkin and placing it next to his plate.

“She didn’t have one or had it so well hidden even I couldn’t find it,” Stiles said, bunching up his napkin to drop it on his empty plate as he gestured to the waitress for their bill.

“We need to figure out where she’s going to live. If she’s grown up in California, she should stay here with me,” Derek suggested, his voice cautious and he actually winced when Stiles made an outraged sound in protest.

“I live here, too!” he argued. “I live in a loft about three miles from here.”

Derek’s eyebrows lowered, gathering together in the center. “I thought you’d moved to New York?”

“For college! Once I graduated, I came right back here to be near my dad. So, it’s just as easy for her to live with me. My loft has a spare bedroom.”

The waitress dropped off the bill and turned to walk away with a wink to Stiles who reached for the bill, gaping when it was swiped out from beneath his fingers. “I’ve got this.”

“I can pay it,” Stiles argued as Derek gave him a disbelieving look, his gaze traveling over Stiles’ paint-splattered clothing hidden beneath a hoodie he’d had since high school. “So, I didn’t have a big fancy suit like you to wear to the lawyer’s office.”

“Hey, guys,” Emberli said as she approached the table, looking a bit nervous as she twisted her fingers in the bottom of her t-shirt. “What’s up?”

Stiles and Derek exchanged a look, the both of them looking a bit guilty before turning smiles on her, causing her to flinch and take a step backward, nearly knocking over a passing waitress carrying a large tray. “Another point in your favor,” Derek hissed under his breath and Stiles flipped him off with one hand hidden by the other.

“We’re just talking about where you want to live?” Stiles told her. “I live in a loft near here and you can have your own bedroom. Last I heard, Derek here lives in a run-down train depot.”

“That was one weekend when I was fifteen,” Derek hissed before turning his attention back to Emberli who was now twisting her brown hair around one finger in a way that was straight out of Paige’s repertoire. “I live in a home in the Preserve on the edge of town, do you know it?”

“My mom took me there a couple of times when I was really young,” she said, smiling. “There was a burned down house and we would walk around it and pray for the people that lived there.”

Stiles didn’t hesitate as he reached over to grab Derek’s shoulder, remembering the pain in his eyes and the days spent crying in Stiles’ room after his entire family, save his oldest sister and uncle, were killed in a house fire. The ruins had stood for years until the city had insisted they be razed completely. By that time, Derek and Stiles hadn’t spoken in about ten years, so he wasn’t sure how he’d felt about that nor that he’d built a new house there.

Derek’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times but no sound came out. Stiles cleared his own throat, cursing the tears that had clogged his own throat. “That was Derek’s home growing up,” he managed and regretted the words when Emberli’s face paled. 

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. She said she knew someone who lived there but she never told me it was you,” she said, hugging her arms tight around herself and Stiles wondered if she was holding back from trying to reach out to Derek.

“It’s alright,” Derek managed. “I rebuilt about a mile down the road from there and erected a memorial for my family there.”

“I’d like to see it,” she said and Derek nodded. 

“We can see it on the way to my house,” he told her. “Then tomorrow we can pick up the rest of your things from your house.” Paige and Emberli had lived a few hours outside of Beacon Hills and the house was being put up for sale, but their things still needed to be taken care of before that could be done.

“Are you coming?” she asked, turning to Stiles and Derek looked at him with wide eyes.

“As long as it’s alright with Derek,” he said after a few minutes and he could see the wheels turning in Derek’s head, probably trying to figure out a way to get rid of Stiles.

“Please, Derek? I really want to get to know both of you.” Derek’s shoulders slumped and everyone knew that Emberli was already wrapping him around her little finger.

That first night was only the beginning. At first, Emberli would spend a couple of nights at Derek’s and then a couple at Stiles’. During the summer, it was an easy arrangement based on one of them picking her up from the other’s house and having minimal conversation. By the time September rolled around and school started, they all felt confident that they’d settled into a good routine and Stiles was confident nothing could possibly go wrong.

Then one night, when he was in the middle of a new painting, his phone rang. He ignored it, not expecting anyone and he was on his own for the night, Emberli having taken the bus to Derek’s house to spend the weekend. Focusing on the corner of the painting that was giving him the most trouble, the colors not blending quite right, he reached for some more of the seafoam green he’d mixed together on the palette. 

The phone stopped ringing and immediately started again. Groaning, Stiles moved across the room to where his phone was sitting on a table so he could hear the music he’d been playing on it. Glancing at the screen, he saw Derek’s face and immediately dropped the palette, glad that he’d extended the drop cloths over most of the living room. He’d barely connected the call and made a sound when Derek shouted. “Tell me that she’s with you.”

“It’s your night,” Stiles said, already moving to slip his bare feet into the shoes next to the door and reaching for a hoodie.

“I know it is, but she wasn’t here when I got home,” Derek said, running a hand through his hair and Stiles looked over at the clock on the stove.

“Did you just get home?” It was almost ten o’clock at night and the one sore spot in the arrangement had been how much time Derek spent at work leaving Emberli alone in the house in the preserve. 

“I had a meeting!” Derek defended himself.

Stiles scoffed. “I’ll call my dad and meet you at the house. Start thinking of places she could have gone.”

Stiles called his dad who put out a call to the deputies on duty and promised to get in his own cruiser and drive around town. Climbing into his Jeep, he headed toward the Preserve, eyes more on the sides of the road than in front of him but still managing to reach the turn off without incident. 

It was harder to see the road among the trees and no street lights but the moon was full and helped a bit. Stiles drove slowly in case an animal darted into the road, not wanting to risk something happening to his Jeep or the animal. His phone rang and he glanced at it, seeing Derek’s name on the screen but didn’t want to answer while driving. His eyes went back to the road and he slammed on his brakes when he saw a figure walking down the road in front of him, head down and bright green backpack reflecting his headlights.

Jumping out of the Jeep, the door standing open, he shouted, “Em?” The figure lifted their head and turned around. Rushing forward, he pulled her into his arms and squeezed tightly. “What are you doing here? We’ve been so worried.”

“I got on the wrong bus,” she said.

“That was hours ago!” Stiles admonished and kept his arms around her, noticing that she was cold and he swore he heard her stomach growl as he hurried her back to the Jeep and inside.

“I got off at the loft but your Jeep was gone and I don’t have a phone so I couldn’t call and find you,” she said. 

The phone was something he and Derek argued about, the both of them disagreeing on whether or not she was old enough or responsible enough to have one. Stiles said that it was a necessity if she was going between houses and this was a perfect example of why. The part of him that wanted to tell him, “I told you so,” was outweighed by the part relieved he’d found her.

“I kind of remembered the way to Derek’s, so I started walking,” she explained. “I had to stop and rest a bunch of times and ate what was left of my lunch.” Stiles reached into the backseat and grabbed a blanket and pulled it over her, smiling when she cuddled into it and smiled at him. “Thanks.”

Stiles debated calling Derek to tell him he’d found her and decided they were close enough to just keep driving. He pulled up in front of the house and Derek raced down the steps looking more harried than Stiles had seen him since they were kids. He skidded to a stop and nearly tripped over his own feet when Emberli opened the Jeep door and climbed out. He grabbed her and held her close, burying his face in her hair. 

Stiles blinked back tears as he got her backpack out of the Jeep and grabbed his phone to call his dad to get him to call off the search. He was about to hit send when his dad’s cruiser pulled up in front of the house, another car following closely behind. His father looked guilty when he got out of the car and Stiles started to ask what was wrong when Deaton climbed out of the car behind him, a frown on his face.

“You called him?” Stiles snapped.

His father’s look became disapproving and Stiles shrunk into himself. “You know I have to call when a minor is missing.”

“I know,” Stiles mumbled.

“Misters Stilinski and Hale, I think we need to have a talk. Sheriff, would you mind taking Emberli inside.”

“C’mon, kiddo,” the Sheriff said to Emberli who pulled away from Derek with a bit of a struggle and let herself be led away and up the stairs. “We’ll find you something to eat and get you warmed up.”

Once the door closed behind him, Deaton’s smile he’d given to Stiles’ dad and Emberli faded. “Now, who can tell me what happened here?”

Derek turned his attention to Stiles. “I had a meeting that ran late-”

“So we had discussed having Em go to a friend’s house tonight, but she forgot and got off the bus at my flat instead and I wasn’t home. She decided to just walk to Derek’s because she knew this-”

“Why didn’t she just call one of you?”

“She doesn’t have a phone,” Stiles said, his lips twisted as he tried to keep the judgement out of his voice; Derek was looking torn up enough without a guilt trip laid on him.

“That’s my fault. I thought twelve wasn’t responsible enough.” He ran a hand through his hair. “A decision I think I’m going to have to revisit.”

“ _ We _ are going to have to revisit,” Stiles said, moving to stand next to Derek, surprised when he leaned into him. Glancing over, he saw Derek running a hand into his own hair and tugging on it as he blew out a breath.

Deaton studied them both before nodding. “I know I have been a bit lax in my visitations to observe your situation, but that will change now. There will be weekly visits.”

“We’ll give you a copy of the schedule that we have for her,” Derek said, already pulling his phone out. “I’ll share the Google calendar with your office-”

“Schedule?”

“Of where she is staying on which night,” Derek explained and Stiles watched the two of them, dread growing in his stomach.

“I thought I explained that Ms. Krasikeva wanted you to take care of Emberli  _ together. _ ”

“We are sharing custody,” Derek countered. “Like any unmarried parents.”

“Is it this ‘shared custody’ that is responsible for tonight’s adventure?” Derek’s shoulders drooped and Stiles pressed a hand to the small of his back without thinking, feeling Derek lean back into it. “Then, I suggest, along with the phone issue, you  _ revisit _ the living arrangements.” With those words, he bid them good night and climbed back into his car, leaving them both staring after it in shock.

They turned around when the door opened and saw John standing at the top of the stairs. “Em had a sandwich and fell asleep on the couch. She didn’t want to go up to bed without saying ‘good night,’ but the day got to her,” he explained as he came down the stairs towards them. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I have to say that I agree with Mr. Deaton. This girl needs stability in her life and going back and forth isn’t giving her that.” He hugged his son and clapped a hand on Derek’s shoulder. “At least think about it.”

They watched John leave and Stiles started to head to his Jeep when a hand on his arm stopped him. He looked at Derek who gave a soft smile. “Why don’t you come in,” he suggested, voice soft. “We can work out living arrangements.”

Stiles nodded but the idea of living with Derek was terrifying. He remembered being five years old and trailing seven year old Derek around the old Hale house pretending it was their house and deciding what each room would be designated. “This will be where your mom and dad will stay when they visit,” Derek had said, pointing to the largest of the spare rooms. “This will be our room,” he continued, pointing to the master bedroom. “We’ll have bunk beds and a huge television and video games!”

As they’d gotten older, the game continued and they always shared the master bedroom. Derek always mentioned the bunk beds and when they’d gotten to the age where Stiles realized he liked boys as well as girls, he had to bite back a suggestion that they share a bed. He forgot about the suggestion altogether when Derek started dating in high school. Every week was a different girl and Stiles hadn’t liked any of them but it was clear that Derek had, that he only liked girls, so Stiles let himself fade into the background of Derek’s life.

When the fire happened, Derek and Laura had come to stay with them for a few days while their uncle was in the hospital and Stiles was glad to have his best friend back, but then something happened and Derek withdrew into himself and then suddenly Stiles didn’t even have his friend anymore. He wanted to try and make things right with him, tried a few times but then he’d found out that Derek was dating Paige as well as him. He’d asked Derek to stop but had only been met with scorn. Derek had actually scoffed when Stiles had suggested that Stiles was in love with Paige and wanted to marry her one day. That was the last time he’d been in the same room with Derek.

Taking a deep breath, he followed him up the steps and into the house, his breath stolen when a sense of familiarity washed over him. The house looked nothing like the old Hale house from the outside, but the foyer was identical to what he remembered with the stairs going up and splitting off into both directions. To his left was the archway into the living room where he could see Emberli asleep on the couch, her brown hair fanned out over one arm.

He followed Derek to the right through a swinging door into the dining room and on again into the kitchen. He took a seat at one of the stools set up next to the island in the center while Derek moved over to a complex looking coffee machine. “A Keurig is easier,” he commented and was surprised by the dry chuckle from Derek.

“It probably is, but Laura got this for me one year, complete with classes on how to make about a thousand different coffee house drinks. What would you like?”

“Black coffee,” Stiles told him, grinning when Derek rolled his eyes but turned to fiddle with the machine. “That won’t fit into my loft.”

“I don’t think  _ we  _ will fit into your loft,” Derek countered, but he sounded apologetic instead of judgemental. “Although, I’m sure it’s perfect for you and your art.”

“It is.” Stiles ran his fingers over the countertop, tracing the veins in the granite and trying to come up with one thing that made his loft a better location to cohabitate but was completely lacking. “It’ll take me a little bit of time to pack up. Although, I guess if you don’t charge me much to live here, I can keep the lease on the loft and use it to work.”

Derek set a mug in front of him before returning his attention to the machine, hands flying over it in a way that confused Stiles. “You wouldn’t have to pay anything to live here. I make more than enough to cover the utilities and such. Maybe contribute to groceries.” He glanced at his refrigerator. “Can you still cook?”

Stiles snorted and his curiosity got the best of him as he rose to his feet and crossed to the fridge, pulling it open to reveal a bunch of prepackaged meals, not even meal kits, but actual meals that you just had to heat and serve. Although they were higher end and healthier than a typical frozen dinner, they still weren’t the best for a twelve-year-old girl or the man taking care of her. 

“I can cook better than this,” he said, turning to see Derek watching him, hands hovering over the steamer and ignoring the way the milk was spilling over the edges of the metal pitcher. “Dude,” he shouted, reaching forward just as Derek dropped the pitcher and jumped back with a yelp. 

Without even thinking, Stiles grabbed Derek by the wrist and pulled him to the sink, turning on the cold water and shoving his hand under the stream. Derek winced but held still as Stiles looked around the kitchen, eyes falling on the windowsill over the sink. “Is that?”

Derek nodded, refusing to meet Stiles’ eyes. The plant was an aloe and Stiles reached out, breaking off a leaf as he turned off the water. The plant had been a gift Stiles had grown in first grade and it was still in the hand-painted pot that had gone along with it when he’d given it to Derek for Christmas that year because he couldn’t afford anything else. He was amazed not only that it was still alive but that Derek had kept it. 

He gently patted Derek’s hand dry before squeezing the leaf and applying the gel to it. “I would’ve thought it would’ve gotten bigger.”

“It did,” Derek responded, his voice still tight with pain as Stiles distributed the gel over the pinkened skin. “I kept trimming it back and taking cuttings to plant and give as gifts.”

“How did it survive the fire?”

Derek chuckled. “I had taken it out into the shed the night before so I could trim it and had forgotten about it.” He shook his head as he pulled his hand back with a quiet word of gratitude to Stiles. “I’d forgotten about it and it was nearly dead by the time Uncle Peter took me to the shed to clean it out but I managed to nurse it back to health.”

“Cool,” Stiles said, washing his hands and returning to his mug. “So, I guess I’ll start moving in tomorrow. I don’t have much outside of my studio stuff so it won’t take me long.” He glanced over his shoulder. “What room will I be getting?”

“Follow me.”

Derek led Stiles up the stairs and to the left, to the side of the house with the master bedrooms and a couple of others. As they passed one, Stiles could see it was decorated for Emberli, boy band posters over the bed and books scattered over the floor. Her name was hung on a plaque on the door. He stood so long mesmerized by how much Derek was able to give to her that he jumped when Derek cleared his throat.

Hurrying to catch up, he looked into the room that Derek was standing in front of. It was a generic bedroom with a queen-sized bed underneath a blue duvet. Stepping inside, he smiled at the fireplace against one wall imagining the coziness of a fire as the autumn weather grew colder. Stepping further into the room, he froze as his eye was caught by the painting hanging above the mantle.

The blues and greens of the forest scene with a wolf looking like it was in motion between the trunks of the trees were familiar enough to Stiles that his fingers itched with the familiar motions that he’d used to create it. “That’s mine,” he breathed out.

Derek nodded. “I have a few of yours.” He ducked his head when Stiles’ head whipped around to look at him. “I went to your first gallery show.”

“I didn’t see you,” he said.

“I know. You looked so happy that I didn't want to ruin your night,” he said.

“You wouldn’t have,” Stiles promised. “You would’ve made it even better.” He stepped towards Derek, his fingers reaching for him and brushing against the sleeve of his dress shirt. “You were my best friend.”

“And you were mine, too,” he said. “And then it got fucked up.”

Stiles’ hand dropped and he chuckled dryly. “It did, but now...now, we have a chance to be friends again and…” He trailed off unsure what he could say without sounding stupid.

“I’d like that. It would definitely make raising Emberli together easier,” he agreed. “And…” He ran a hand through his hair. “I have something to show you, but you can’t laugh.”

“Lead the way,” Stiles said, jumping when Derek reached for his hand instead and pulled him out and into the hallway.

They passed the stairway and headed towards the rooms they’d decided were for their parents when they were children, stopping outside the one that had been for Derek’s parents. The door had a small frame on it which contained a print of the painting in what was going to be Stiles’ room. He pushed the door open and then moved to stand behind Stiles, covering his eyes with both hands before he got a look beyond the door.

He let Derek nudge him through the opening before he dropped his hands. Stiles’ eyes widened at the space in front of him. The room was empty but the walls were lined with windows and he could just imagine in the morning that the sun would flow through them, filling it with light. Spinning around, he spotted a couple more of his paintings hanging on the walls. The room was empty but the walls that didn’t have paintings were lined with the kinds of shelves and cubbies that Stiles had installed in his loft. 

“It’s an art studio,” he said. “You built me an art studio?”

The tips of Derek’s ears turned pink. “It wasn’t how it started out. This was supposed to be my parents’ room, remember?” Stiles nodded, relieved that he wasn’t the only one that remembered those childish plans. “Once the house was built and I knew my parents would never stay here, it stood empty. Then I went to your show and the next thing I knew, I had it set up as an art studio.”

“Why? You didn’t even talk to me,” Stiles said, moving to run his fingers along the different surfaces, opening cupboards and drawers and imagining his supplies occupying the spaces.

“I don’t know.” Derek’s tone rang with honesty. “I just couldn’t imagine anything or anyone else in this room.”

“You’re both idiots,” a voice spoke up and they turned to see Emberli in the doorway, yawning and running a hand through her hair, messing it up while at the same time tugging her shirt down to straighten it out.

“I’m sorry?” Derek said.

“Even mom knew. She told me about you two before she died. About the two men who could be my father,” she said and it was the first time she’d acknowledged that she knew one of them was her father. “She loved you both.” Stiles swallowed and saw tears in Derek’s eyes. “Just not as much as you loved each other.”

With those words, she yawned loudly and said, “Good night,” disappearing down the hallway towards her room. 

The silence was heavy and neither of them could make eye contact. After it had dragged on for close to five minutes, broken only by the soft snick of Emberli’s room closing, Stiles cleared his throat. “Well, I should be getting back to my loft. Get some sleep and start packing.”

Derek didn’t stop him until he was halfway to his Jeep. Stiles turned to find him standing at the top of the stairs. “It’s late. You could just stay.” Stiles looked between the Jeep and Derek, debating whether he should. “I _want_ you to stay.”

Something zipped through Stiles at those words and he nodded, pocketing his keys and heading to meet Derek on the stairs. Standing on the bottom step and looking up at him. “I’m a bit wired to sleep. Want to watch a movie?”

Derek grinned and nodded. They went inside, the door closing behind them and Stiles turned to lock it up, a sense of belonging washing through him as the lock clicked into place. He followed Derek up the stairs to the rooms. He went into his, pulling off his jeans figuring he would just sleep in his boxers and tee. He hoped it wouldn’t make Derek uncomfortable but there was no way he was going to relax in his jeans. 

He stepped through the door and ran into Derek who had changed into a pair of soft flannel pajamas. He was carrying a pair of sweatpants and offered them to Stiles as he kept his eyes locked to the ceiling. “Figured these might be more appropriate than your boxers if Emberli sees you.”

Taking the sweatpants he slipped into them while Derek made his way down the stairs. He heard popping from the direction of the kitchen as he made his way into the living room, eyes bugging out at the entertainment setup in the living room. It looked like a display model from the store with every gaming system and type of player known to man. He spotted a DVD holder and opened it, flipping through trying to find something to watch.

He was only about halfway through when Derek came into the room carrying a bowl of popcorn tossed with M&Ms, a few packages of peanut butter cups, and a couple of beers. “Awesome,” Stiles said, moving to the couch and settling down, the DVD folder in his lap as he reached for a beer. “How do you ever decide what to watch?”

Derek shrugged. “I mostly just open at random,” he explained, reaching over and taking the binder. Closing his eyes, he flipped the pages until he stopped on one and waggled his finger over the page before letting it drop. “ _ Fellowship of the Ring, Extended Edition  _ it is.” 

Although it was late and the movie was long, Stiles was not going to argue. Choosing DVDs that way was the most carefree he’d seen Derek in years so he wasn’t going to argue. He waited until Derek had settled back next to him on the couch, noticing he sat a bit closer than he’d expected, their thighs brushing against each other.

A half an hour into the movie, Stiles let out a yawn that he tried to swallow but he could feel Derek’s body shaking with laughter next to him. “Shut up,” he muttered. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve fallen asleep watching movies with you.”

When they were kids, they would spend a lot of weekend nights watching movies together on the tiny portable DVD player Derek kept in his bedroom. They’d set up a blanket fort and camped out on the floor with snacks and sodas until they fell asleep during a movie. Those were some of Stiles' favorite memories and he felt warm with the familiarity of this moment. 

He jumped when Derek reached past him to shut off the light on the end table, leaving his arm on the back of the couch, allowing Stiles to fall more into him. When Derek didn’t object, he stayed where he was figuring if it bothered him, he’d shrug him off. Instead, Derek moved his arm to snug him closer into him and rubbed a hand over his shoulder.

“Do you think Sam was in love with Frodo?” Stiles asked out of the blue, expecting Derek to laugh at him as he used to when Stiles would ask random questions while watching movies.

Derek hummed thoughtfully. “He certainly seems to be,” he said after a minute. “It’s terribly easy to fall in love with your best friend, even if they don’t love you back.”

“Tell me about it,” Stiles said, his voice catching.

“What would you know about it?” Derek muttered, his voice so quiet Stiles almost missed it but he didn’t and sat up to gape at him. “What?”

Stiles huffed out a laugh. “You really have no idea, do you?” Derek stared at him. “I was in love with you from the time we were ten years old.” 

“I think you’re confused,” Derek said, rubbing a hand over his face and reaching for the remote to turn off the movie. “ _ I  _ was in love with  _ you. _ Why do you think I always said we’d share the master bedroom in the house when we grew up?”

“Bunk beds!”

“We were kids!” Derek argued. “Bunk beds were cool!”

Stiles scoffed. “Whatever.” 

He pushed himself to stand, stumbling when Derek grabbed him and pulled him back down onto the couch where he landed on a sprawl across his lap. “Where are you going? You can’t drop a bomb like that-”

“A bomb? Me? What about you? Babbling about being in love with me.” He laughed at the ridiculousness.

“Hell, even Laura knew! She used to tease me all the time. When I was heartbroken over Paige, she said that I’d only gotten together with her because she looked like you! The same eyes, the same moles, the same wicked sense…” Derek trailed off. “Shit...I think she was right.” He looked as shell-shocked as Stiles felt.

“My dad wondered if I wanted to be with Paige so badly because she was with you, so being with her was like being with you by extension,” Stiles said, looking at his hands but not moving from Derek’s lap. “I really did love her though.”

“I did, too,” Derek told him, gripping his chin and tilting it up. “But I loved you, too.” 

He looked into Stiles’ eyes before glancing at his lips and up again. Stiles gave a slight nod and then they were kissing. It was clumsy and awkward and perfect.

And over all too soon when they heard a shout from the floor above them. Scrambling to their feet they both ran for the stairs and down the hall to Emberli’s room throwing open the door to find her sitting up in bed, the blankets clutched around her and eyes wide and wet. She was breathing too fast as they approached the bed, one on each side, taking her hands. 

“Shhh, it’s alright,” Derek whispered into her hair as Stiles ran a thumb over the back of her hand. “We’re right here. We’re not going anywhere.” He said the words with his eyes on Stiles’ who smiled and nodded, echoing them as he pressed his lips to her temple as they soothed her back to sleep.

**Six Months Later**

Stiles stood at the mailbox, looking at the envelope in his hands. It was heavy white paper with an official looking logo for DDC in the upper left hand corner. It was the results of the DNA testing that Deaton had insisted upon. Today would be the day they found out whether Derek or Stiles was actually Emberli’s father. 

Swallowing, he continued up the driveway to the house. It had been a rough six months of adjustment to living together. Although Derek and Stiles had shared their feelings that one night months before, they took it slow and started out in separate rooms. Stiles still slept in his own room even if some nights started in Derek’s. It was a line neither of them was quite ready to cross and since they’d sent out samples for the DNA testing, they’d barely spoken.

Stiles was afraid that if it turned out that Derek was Emberli’s father, he would lose everything, even though he would never do that to Derek if the tables were turned. His gut was twisting as he made it into the house and called for Derek who appeared from the direction of the kitchen, drying his hands on a towel. He froze when Stiles held up the envelope. His hand shook as he reached for it.

“What’s that?” Emberli asked, coming in from outside where she’d been walking Atlas, the Alaskan Malamute they’d adopted a few months earlier. The dog ran off when she took the leash off and hung it next to the door, making sure it hung evenly before turning around and tossing her gloves towards the storage bin, ignoring them when they fell short and to the floor.

“The DNA results,” Stiles said and Derek nodded.

“Oh,” she said, her voice strange as he glanced around the room. “Can I open them?”

Derek and Stiles exchanged a look and Stiles shrugged as Derek nodded. “Sure,” he said, handing it over to her.

Smiling, she took the envelope and flipped it over in her hands studying it intently. She ran her finger over the seam and looked up at the both of them, her face blank. After a moment, when Stiles thought he was going to burst out of his skin with anticipation, her lips twisted into a smirk that was reminiscent of his own as her eyes sparkled and crinkled like Derek’s.

Before either of them could ask what the smirk was for, Emberli broke between them and raced for the living room with a shout and a laugh. It took them a second to recover from the shock but once they had, they hurried after her just in time to see the envelope disappear into the flames of the fireplace. Derek dove for the envelope but Stiles grabbed him just as Emberli picked up the poker and brandished it like a weapon.

“No! I don’t care what the paper says. You are my dads. Plural. Both of you! We are a family. Even if you two weren’t together.” They both started to sputter and she laughed with glee. “Oh, stop. I’m thirteen, not stupid,” she snapped with a grin. “Even if you two weren’t together, you would both still be my dad. Stiles teaches me how to have fun and get away with stuff I probably shouldn’t and Derek teaches me to be a responsible, sometimes boring person, but  _ both _ of you teach me to be a  _ good _ person and both of you love me and I love you.”

They knew that Deaton was going to have a fit, but Stiles couldn’t find it in his heart to care as he glanced at Derek who looked confused and proud and flustered. Laughing, he reached over Derek’s hand and pulled him into a hug with Emberli who laughed when Atlas came in and knocked the three of them over trying to join the lovefest.

Once things had calmed down and Emberli told them that she loved them and they’d assured her the feelings were mutual, she said she was heading upstairs to shower and then asked if they could all go out for a family dinner. They agreed and smiled at each other as she left the room. Turning towards each other, Stiles grinned and pressed a kiss to Derek’s lips, relieved when it was returned with a fervor that was normally saved for after Emberli was in bed.

It was ended by a loud call of, “Dads!” from the doorway.

“Yes?” They both said, turning to find Emberli grinning at them. 

“Just checking,” she said before turning and heading up the stairs.

Stiles laughed and leaned his head into Derek’s shoulder. “She’s too smart for her own good.”

Derek put a hand on his forehead and pushed him off gently, but grabbed him by the arm before he could tumble backward. “You mean she’s a smart ass.”

They looked at each other, lips pressed together suppressing laughter before pointing fingers at each other. “She’s  _ your _ daughter,” they said in unison.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say 'hi' on tumblr. I'm 'josjournal' over there.


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